A Media Player

Abstract

A media player comprising a media usage module, a media usage analysis module, and an indicator. The media usage module is operable to monitor media usage over a time period and output media usage data including media genre type. The media usage analysis module is configured to derive one or more first user characteristics from the media usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-genre association. The indicator module is configured to output one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period based on the derived one or more first user characteristics.

1 . A media player comprising:
 a media usage module operable to monitor media usage over a time period and output media usage data including media genre type;   a media usage analysis module configured to derive one or more first user characteristics from the media usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-genre association; and   an indicator module configured to output one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period based on the derived one or more first user characteristics.   
     
     
         2 . A media player as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the indicator module is configured to aggregate the number of instances of each first user characteristic to determine one or more user characteristic indicators. 
     
     
         3 . A media player as claimed in  claims 1 - 2  wherein the aggregated number of instances is normalised. 
     
     
         4 . A media player as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the media usage module is further operable to access a media library and output media library data including media genre type. 
     
     
         5 . A media player as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the media usage analysis module is configured to derive one or more second user characteristics from the media library data based on a user characteristic-to-genre association; 
     
     
         6 . A media player as claimed in  claim 5  wherein the outputted one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period is further based on the derived one or more second user characteristics. 
     
     
         7 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 5  or  6  wherein the indicator module is configured to aggregate the number of instances of each second user characteristic to determine baseline user characteristic data. 
     
     
         8 . A media player as claimed in  claim 7  wherein the aggregated number of instances is normalised. 
     
     
         9 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 7 - 8  wherein the indicator module is configured to determine at least one difference between at least one first user characteristic and the baseline user characteristic data to determine one or more user characteristic indicators. 
     
     
         10 . A media player as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the one or more user characteristics are based on personality traits, optionally OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) personality traits. 
     
     
         11 . A media player as claimed in  claims 1 - 10  comprising a context module operable to access context data associated with the player's operating environment and output context data including context type;
 wherein the time period is the period of time relating to context data. 
 
     
     
         12 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 10  comprising an app usage module operable to access app data on the media player to output app usage data including app type;
 wherein the time period is the period of time relating to app usage data. 
 
     
     
         13 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 10  comprising an app usage module operable to access app data on the media player to output app usage data including app type;
 wherein the media usage analysis module is configured to derive one or more third user characteristics from the app usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-app type association; and 
 wherein the indicator module is configured to output one or more user characteristic indicators further based on the derived one or more third user characteristics. 
 
     
     
         14 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 13  comprising a notification module operable with the indicator module and configured to determine whether or not to send a notification to the user of the player based on the one or more user characteristic indicators. 
     
     
         15 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 14  wherein the notification module informs an application the result of whether or not to send a notification to the user of the player. 
     
     
         16 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 15  wherein the notification module, in response to determining to send a notification to the user of the player, selects one or more notifications from a library of possible notifications based on the one or more personality indicators. 
     
     
         17 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 16  wherein the selected one or more notifications is sent to an AV output module of the player. 
     
     
         18 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 17  wherein the media library data is sent to an application or website as a signature to identify and track the user of the media player. 
     
     
         19 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 18  wherein the media usage data is sent to an application or website as a record of the user's activities. 
     
     
         20 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 19  wherein the media player  110  tracks the user's response to the notification. 
     
     
         21 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 20  wherein the media player  110  is configured to store record data comprising details of the sent notification including whether or not the notification caused a positive or negative. 
     
     
         22 . A media player as claimed in  claim 21  wherein the media player  110  is configured to send to a data server record data comprising details of the sent notification including whether or not the notification caused a positive or negative. 
     
     
         23 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 22  wherein the selected one or more notifications is sent to the application. 
     
     
         24 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 23  wherein the library of possible notifications is provided remotely and is accessible via a transceiver module located on the player. 
     
     
         25 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 24  wherein the media library is provided remotely and is accessible via a transceiver module located on the player. 
     
     
         26 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 25  wherein media from the media library is streamed remotely to the player. 
     
     
         27 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 26  wherein the user characteristic-to-genre association is stored on remotely and is accessible via a transceiver module located on the player. 
     
     
         28 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 27  wherein the user characteristic-to-app type association is stored on remotely and is accessible via a transceiver module located on the player. 
     
     
         29 . A media player as claimed in any of  claims 1 - 28  wherein the library of possible notifications is provided on the player. 
     
     
         30 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 29  wherein the media library is provided on the player. 
     
     
         31 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 30  wherein the user characteristic-to-genre association is stored locally on the player. 
     
     
         32 . A media player as claimed in any of  claim 1 - 31  wherein the user characteristic-to-app type association is stored locally on the player. 
     
     
         33 . A system comprising the media player in any of  claims 1 - 30  and:
 in which the media player includes a transceiver configured to communicate information to and from the media player; and 
 a server comprising a database module arranged to store the media library and operable to provide media library data including media genre type to the media player. 
 
     
     
         34 . A system as claimed in  claim 33  comprising:
 a user characteristic server comprising a database module for storing the user characteristic-to-genre association and user characteristic-to-context type association, and operable to provide user characteristic data to the media player via the communications network. 
 
     
     
         35 . A system as claimed in  claim 33  comprising:
 a notification server comprising a database module for storing the library of possible notifications and operable to provide notification data to the media player via the communications server. 
 
     
     
         36 . A system as claimed in  claim 33  further comprising:
 one or more other media players, each including a transceiver configured to communicate information to and from the media player to the server; and 
 wherein the server is configured to:
 store information associated with each of the media players; and 
 and provide the stored information to any of the media player on request. 
 
 
     
     
         37 . A system as claimed in  claim 36  wherein the information associated with each of the media files comprises media usage data including media genre type, media library data including media genre type, app usage data including app type, the decision of whether or not to send a notification, and the selected one or more notifications. 
     
     
         38 . A method of operating a media player comprising the steps of:
 monitoring media usage on the media player over a time period to determine media usage data including media genre type;   deriving one or more first user characteristics from the media usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-genre association; and   determining one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period based on the derived one or more first user characteristics.   
     
     
         39 . A method as claimed in  claim 38  wherein the step of determining one or more user characteristic indicators comprises aggregating the number of instances of each first user characteristic over the time period. 
     
     
         40 . A method as claimed in  claim 39  further comprises normalising the aggregated number of instances of each first user characteristic. 
     
     
         41 . A method as claimed in  claim 38  further comprises the steps of:
 accessing a media library over the time period and determining media library data including media genre type; 
 deriving one or more second user characteristics from the media usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-genre association; and 
 wherein the step of determining one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period is further based on the derived one or more second user characteristics. 
 
     
     
         42 . A method as claimed in  claim 40  wherein the step of determining one or more user characteristic indicators comprises aggregating the number of instances of each second user characteristic over the time period. 
     
     
         43 . A method as claimed in  claim 41  further comprises normalising the aggregated number of instances of each second user characteristic. 
     
     
         44 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 38 - 43  wherein the step of determining one or more user characteristic indicators comprises determining at least one difference between at least one first user characteristic and at least one second user characteristic. 
     
     
         45 . A method as claimed in any of  claim 38 - 44  further comprising:
 accessing a context module over the time period and determining context data including context type; 
 setting the time period to the period of time relating to context data. 
 
     
     
         46 . A method as claimed in any of  claim 38 - 45  further comprising:
 accessing an app usage module over the time period and determining app usage data including app type; 
 setting the time period to the period of time relating to app usage data. 
 
     
     
         47 . A method as claimed in any of  claim 38 - 46  further comprising:
 deriving one or more third user characteristics from the app usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-app type association; and 
 wherein the step of determining one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period is further based on the derived one or more third user characteristics. 
 
     
     
         48 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 38 - 47  further comprising:
 determining whether or not to send a notification based on the one or more user characteristic indicators. 
 
     
     
         49 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 38 - 48  further comprising:
 informing an application of the result of whether or not to send a notification. 
 
     
     
         50 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 38 - 49  further comprising:
 selecting one or more notifications from a library of possible notifications based on the one or more user characteristic indicators. 
 
     
     
         51 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 38 - 50  further comprising:
 sending the selected one or more notifications. 
 
     
     
         52 . A computer readable medium carrying machine readable instructions arranged, when executed by a processor, to cause the processor to carry out the method of any of  claims 38  to  51 . 
     
     
         53 . A media player comprising an app configured to perform the method of any of  claims 38  to  51 . 
     
     
         54 . A media player comprising;
 an app usage module operable to access app data on the media player over a time period to output app usage data including app type;   a media usage analysis module configured to derive one or more third user characteristics from the app usage data over the time period based on a user characteristic-to-app type association; and   an indicator module configured to output one or more user characteristic indicators over the time period based on the derived one or more third user characteristics.   
     
     
         55 . A media player as claimed in  claim 54  comprising a notification module operable with the indicator module and configured to determine whether or not to send a notification to the user of the player based on the one or more user characteristic indicators. 
     
     
         56 . A method of implementing the steps of  claims 54  to  55 . 
     
     
         57 . A computer readable medium or app configured to implement the method of  claim 56 . 
     
     
         58 . A method, apparatus, system, or computer readable medium substantially as described herein and with reference to the accompanying drawings.